Bayt Farhi and the Sephardic Palaces of Ottoman Damascus in the Late 18th and 19th Centuries

Elizabeth Macaulay-Lewis is Assistant Professor at The City University of New York. She is interested in the gardens and architecture of the Middle East and North Africa in the Classical and Islamic periods, as well as in their reception. She has published on a wide range of topics, from the topography of Roman Damascus to the reception of Classical and Egyptian architecture in New York City. Her books include Housing the New Romans: Architectural Reception and Classical Style in the Modern World (2017). She is the deputy director of the open-access photo-archive www.manar-al-athar.ox.ac.uk, and co-director of the Upper Egypt Mosque Project.

• IntroductionPart I: Historical and Architectural BackgroundThe Fahri Family and the Jewish Community of Damascus in the 18th and 19th CenturiesMonumental Courtyard Houses in Ottoman Damascus and SyriaPart II: Bayt Fahria and other Damascene HousesOverview of the Architecture of Bayt FahriThe Bayt Fahri InscriptionsOther 19th-Century High-Status Jewish HousesPart III: Architectural Survey of Bayt FahriThe Barrani CourtyardThe Juwwani, Middle and Service CourtyardsConclusionAppendix: Damascence Houses mentioned in the textIndex of Hebrew and Aramaic Texts

Damascus is a treasure trove of Ottoman domestic architecture. The old city preserves no greater example than the grand three-courtyard house of the prominent Jewish banker, Farhi al-Muallam. Elizabeth Macaulay-Lewis has done much more than accurately document and describe this marvel, recently restored to shine again in its original splendour. She provides us with a picture of the house in its context, even tracing back to the citys Roman phase. Her narrative explores how life for a Jewish family in late eighteenth century Damascus existed in an environment far removed from todays dysfunctional confessional divisions and where a Jewish family could grace the house with equally prominent references to its Jewish and Arab associations. The book is meticulously illustrated with plans and photographs bringing out every detail of the restoration process. It shows the house as it exists today, with its stunning palette of colours which previously only the English painter, Frederic Leighton, could adequately convey.Professor Ross Burns (Macquarie University, Sydney), author of Damascus A History, Monuments of Syria, Aleppo A History